REFLECTIONS TODAY After the time of Joseph, the king of Egypt, who probably belongs to another dynasty, grows suspicious of the allegiance of the Israelites and oppresses them with hard labor (Ex 1:11). The Israelites who have grown numerous in time of peace now experience the might of Pharaoh’s...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 6:7-13 Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jacob learns the fate of his family — of his twelve sons — as they leave Canaan to migrate to Egypt. There, they will become a great nation (Gn 46:3). But turning numerous will arouse fear in Pharaoh who will enslave them. Through Moses, however, God will rescue his people and...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The saga of Joseph “the dreamer” culminates with his self- revelation to his brothers and his assurance of forgiveness. A man of wisdom, he tells them that God allowed him to be sold as a slave for the sake of saving lives (Gn 45:5). He restores peace to the house of Jacob....
REFLECTIONS TODAY Joseph, sold as a slave, then turned governor of Egypt, sends his brothers back to Canaan with food for their starving families. Later, he brings his father Jacob and Jacob’s entire family to Egypt and settles them in the pasture land of Goshen. The twelve sons of Jacob, the...
REFLECTIONS TODAY When he prevails over some strange man who wrestles with him, Jacob never releases the “man” until the man blesses him. This results in his being renamed “Israel,” meaning, he has wrestled with divine and human beings and has prevailed (Gn 32:29). In the Gospel, Jesus,...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jacob realizes that God is always with him, protecting him wherever he goes, never leaving him until God has done to him what he promised (Gn 28:15). No wonder, he calls the place where God manifested himself in a dream Beth-El, “the house of God.” The woman suffering...
REFLECTIONS TODAY MARK 6:1-6 Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him?...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus is the capstone of the whole structure of the assembly of God. He is the one that joins together all the stones into one: “Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord” (Eph 2:21). The Apostles and prophets are our models in...
REFLECTIONS TODAY Jesus’ “seeing” is not simply a matter of noticing someone by chance. He sees as no man sees—with a purpose. Just as he sees Nathanael “under the fig tree” (Jn 1:48) and the latter becomes his disciple, so Jesus sees Matthew sitting at the customs post and invites...
REFLECTIONS TODAY The Lord tests Abraham’s fidelity by asking him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. The sacrifice does not push through because Abraham’s devotion to God is proven. Moreover, the Lord disapproves of human sacrifice on the part of Israel, as pagan kings are used to do....
ENDEAVOR Sonny Coloma After joining the USA-ASEAN summit in Palm Springs, California in February 2016 at the invitation of President Barack Obama, President Benigno S. Aquino III went to Loyola Marymount University to receive an honorary degree on humane letters. He confided to the audience, “I...
